Creative Cog Akron

Creative Cog Akron is a monthly creative breakfast talk series that I helped launch with another local creative. I worked closely with the founder to develop the brand.

In addition to being lead designer on this project, I also did quite a bit of copywriting and editing for it.

The initial event exceeded our expectations and we packed the venue with over 70 people from various walks of life.

Flyer (Front)

This is the cover of the first flyer given out at the initial event.

Newsletter

This was a mock-up of a newsletter for the second event while highlighting the first. Unfortunately, it was never put to use.

MISFIT Cupcakes

MISFIT Cupcakes is a mock brand that a previous client of mine created to help me build my portfolio. He provided a creative brief and established a budget for the project.

From the brief, I went through several concepts that played off of this idea of "misfits." After I was finished, I decided to add several more characters that called to mind this idea as well at mock-ups for additional products.

It was a lot of fun.

Final Design

Branding Materials Mock-up

Characters

Didley T-shirt Mock-up

Sculley T-shirt Mock-up

Nervous Dog

This is a self-initiated project that started because I disliked the logo of the coffee shop that I frequent. It's a re-imagining of a local coffee shop logo. I wanted to updated it to look a bit more professional than it does now.

Paws Infographic

Paws, the Library Lion Cub, is the Akron-Summit County Public Library's mascot. I was requested to design an infographic detailing how to pack Paws for the internal staff. We, the marketing department overseeing Paws, had been having some issues with staff returning it not properly packed.

The creative brief required that I clearly state each step as well as make it interesting to look at. I worked closely with the direct manager of the mascot to create this design.

Since the infographic has been implemented into the process, we have seen an increase in staff following proper procedure.

Cocoa

A young entrepreneur needed a new logo for her thriving cupcake business. She enlisted my help and had little idea of what she wanted. Other than not making it cartoon-y, she gave me free reign over the design. I had to ask for a bit more information to narrow down what she wanted and that resulted in her choosing certain colors.

I went through a bunch of concepts before settling on four that I thought reflected her brand best. I revealed those concepts to her and she ended up combining two and this was the result.

Final Design - Pink

Final Design - Brown

Final Design - Set

Cocoa Concepts

Tigre Mark

This is an animal mark that I developed. I wanted keep it simple and interesting while using the white space to create the illusion of stripes.

Joe Hill Studios

This client is a budding director and photographer. He hired me to create his branding materials. I was give free reign over the design although he requested black be one of the colors.

I created several concepts that I presented to him and after going through them and a bit of tweaking, he settled on this design. It's simple and works well on a wide variety of items.

*Photos featured here were taken by client*

Final Design

Branding Materials Mock-Up

Business Cards Mock-Up

T-shirt Mock-up

Lucky Dog

This was a self-initiated project to rebrand Lucky Dog Hot Sauce. I wanted to update the logo and revitalize the feel of the brand. I've very big on minimalism, so that was incredibly important to me.

One Sound

A local Jazz band contacted me this past summer and requested that I create a logo for them. They provided a sketch, but also gave me a bit of leeway with the design. In the end, they settled on something that was a blend of their idea as well as my own.

Shortly after I created the logo, the band contacted me again to request a photo shoot. We were both quite happy with the result.

Chemistry Icons

This is a self-initiated project that illustrates my interest in chemistry. I've always been slightly fond of that particular branch of science, so I wanted to pay a bit of tribute to it.

Coffee Icons

I have an extreme love affair with coffee. It is my sole companion during those late nights working hard on a project. It only made sense to create coffee icons illustrating the various types.

I really enjoyed using this palette. The two sides with slightly different tints, as well as the shadow along the edge of the circle gives them a 3-D effect.

Bookworm Icons

A simple set of icons featuring items associated with being a bookworm.

FSC Web Banner

These two pieces were created during my internship at Digital Color International, LLC (a printing company in my local area).

Upon receiving FSC certification, the company had me create a web banner announcing the news as well as an image for a blog post that I authored. The banner was featured on the front page of the company website.

I had strict guidelines to follow when it came to the design due to the fact that it had to fit with the company's established brand.

FSC Web Banner

FSC Blog Image

Fresh E-Cookbook

Fresh is an e-cookbook that has been a long time in the making. I really enjoy doing layout design, so creating this was a lot of fun. Everything featured was created by me. All of the recipes are ones that I've been using for years, slowly tweaking them to my own palate.

JAM Magazine

JAM is a Northeast Ohio Music & Art Magazine that I created. It uses a simple and clean design with my illustrations between each article. I'm still deciding if it will be bi-annually or quarterly, but the first issue is up for viewing here.

I created the layout in Indesign. The photos were taken with my Canon Rebel T2i and edited in Photoshop. All illustrations were created in a combination of Photoshop, Illustrator, and traditional ink.

History of Design

This was a self-initiated project for a fake event at the Akron Art Museum. I wanted to create 5 posters that were inspired by 5 different art movements. I chose Bauhaus, Constructivism, Post Modernism Art Nouveau, and the Harlem Renaissance.

Each poster must have the logo, name of the event, address, and date of the event.